Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting…
2023
Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate option.
In the middle of her solo trip to Mizoram last month, Geeta Garud, 69, was walking on a narrow ledge, ‘‘making my way behind a waterfall, trying out something I wouldn’t have in my younger years. And I realised how travelling solo was such a liberating experience.’’
Before going on her week-long holiday, she was hesitant about travelling by herself. Garud had asked friends and family but found no takers. Yet there she was, alone, relishing a challenging trek. ‘‘Why was I being dependent on others? Being alone gives you a sense of freedom.’’
She ended up having many firsts. She danced impromptu at a festival in Reiek, waded into a river, and went horse-riding. ‘‘I had opportunities to try horse-riding when I was younger, but could not work up the courage. This time, I thought, if not now, I may not get another chance,’’ says Garud, who was an athlete in her youth and had played cricket.
She was at her farm in Koregaon during the lockdown and had felt the lack of social connections. It motivated her to travel as soon as things eased.
‘‘Travel is also about meeting people; I felt that sense of joy and freedom when I finally did it.’’ She is planning to travel to Europe next and has decided not to take a friend or relative along. She intends to revisit the joy of travelling alone and relishing a sense of freedom all over again.
Which of the following statements is incorrect ?
Travelling alone in distant Mizoram at the age of 69 :
- A.
was very enjoyable but very tiring.
- B.
was a novel experience for Garud.
- C.
she was taking a big risk.
- D.
she was breathing an air of freedom.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: For a ‘which statement is incorrect’ comprehension question, test every option strictly against the passage — an option is TRUE if the passage explicitly states or clearly entails it. It is the intended answer only if it adds a detail the passage never supports, or contradicts the passage outright; sounding negative or subjective is not enough on its own.
‘was very enjoyable but very tiring’ — the passage frames the whole trip (the waterfall walk, the trek, the dancing, the river, the horse-riding) purely as joyful and liberating; it never mentions fatigue or exhaustion anywhere, so ‘tiring’ is a claim the passage never makes.
‘was a novel experience for Garud’ — entailed: the passage says she had ‘many firsts’ and tried horse-riding for the first time despite lacking the courage earlier.
‘she was taking a big risk’ — entailed: the passage puts her on a narrow rocky ledge behind a waterfall during a trek it explicitly calls ‘challenging,’ a concretely hazardous physical setting, not a vague or subjective label.
‘she was breathing an air of freedom’ — entailed repeatedly and explicitly: she calls the trip ‘a liberating experience’, says being alone ‘gives you a sense of freedom’, and describes ‘that sense of joy and freedom’.
Cross-check: each of the other three claims is anchored to a concrete textual detail (firsts/horse-riding, narrow ledge/waterfall/‘challenging’, and the repeated explicit word ‘freedom’/‘liberating’), so none of them is merely a subjective label — only the tiredness claim has zero textual anchor anywhere in the passage.
Result: hence ‘was very enjoyable but very tiring’ is the one statement NOT supported by the passage — the correct choice for ‘which statement is incorrect’.